An Ottoman Jewish Activist in Cairo Proposes Settling Jews in the Sudan

Born in Bodrum in Ottoman Turkey, Abraham (Avram) Galante (Galanti, Galanté) studied at a newly established Jewish school called “Progress” in Rhodes, then at an Ottoman imperial middle school in Bodrum, and later at an Ottoman imperial high school in Izmir. He soon became a teacher, inspector, and principal in the Alliance Israélite Universal school system and advocated for Turkish-language education in Jewish schools. In 1903, he left Izmir for Cairo, where he published the Ladino newspaper La Vara and wrote for Hebrew, French, Italian, and Arabic papers. In 1914, after five years of writing and doing research in Europe, Galante returned to the Ottoman capital and was appointed professor at Istanbul University. In the newly established Turkish republic, he continued to write for Jewish and Turkish papers, publishing nearly sixty books and more than one hundred articles. As a historian, Galante advanced the official view of Ottomans as benefactors and protectors of Sephardic Jews. He also served in the Turkish Parliament (1943–1946).